Former No. 2 overall pick Marcus Mariota is headed to the Las Vegas Raiders after spending his first five seasons with the Tennessee Titans.
The former Heisman Trophy winner signed a two-year, $17.6 million deal with the Raiders earlier this month, but the question remains for some people: why?
In an interview with Rob DeMello of KHON2 News, Mariota spoke about his time in Nashville as well as his decision to sign with the Raiders.
“There were two priorities that I had while I was going through this free agency process. Number one was to find stability. I wanted to be part of an organization that had a stable head coach, that had stability in the front office,” Marcus Mariota explained. “And then secondly for me, I wanted to be part of a coaching staff that could bring out the best in me, that could embrace my talent and just kind of put my best foot forward… the bonus and the cherry on top of it was being closer to home and being in Vegas and again I really can’t stress it enough, we’re just so excited.”
Mariota's career got off to a strong start, as he tossed nearly 3,500 yards and 26 touchdowns in only his second season. However, injuries began to catch up to the 26-year-old and he has struggled to match the success of his first two campaigns.
Last year, Mariota began the year as the Titans starter, but a combination of injuries and poor play forced Tennessee to give the starting job to backup Ryan Tannehill.
As for the Raiders, the team still currently has incumbent starter Derek Carr on the roster, but his future and silver and black may be in jeopardy.
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